E-mail this pageStudent Profiles
Meet Some of Our Students
Ilona L. Sitnitsky
Ilona L. Sitnitsky, a senior in the physics program, came to SUNY Plattsburgh after graduating from Art and Science High School in Israel. While in High School, Ilona was concentrating on Physics and Chemistry. Ilona had the opportunity to work with other fellow students on theoretical physics research, Dark Matter and MOND (Modified Newton Dynamics), before coming to SUNY Plattsburgh.
Ilona decided to come to Plattsburgh because of the beautiful environment and community. What she likes about the Physics and Chemistry Department is that if you have any questions about material studied in class professors are willing to help and answer your questions, and also advise you about academic life.
Ilona is very interested in space and especially in what our Solar System is made from. She decided to pursue the opportunity for her undergraduate research and advanced Honors Project and work with Dr. George Flynn. They work on comet particles that were collected on the Star Dust mission. Star Dust's mission was to collect dust and carbon based compounds from a passing comet, as well as tiny amounts of interstellar dust, which is constantly streaming towards earth from deep space.
Ilona is helping to analyze the chemical composition of these particles. Most of Ilona's research is done at the National Synchrotron Light Source at Brookhaven Labs in New York. They use extremely tiny and bright X-ray beams to extract chemical and mineralogical information from the sample.
Evan Spadafora
Hi, my name is Evan Spadafora. I am a senior physics major at SUNY Plattsburgh. I am from Long Island, New York. I transferred here to Plattsburgh 3 years ago because I love the outdoors and it is a great place for outdoor activities, such as skiing, hiking and mountain biking. The physics program at Plattsburgh helped me a lot in my studies because since it is small, it is easy to interact with professors outside of the classroom, for help with physics or other classes. Also, I had many of the same friends taking the same classes with me every semester, so arranging a study session was easy and helped out a lot. Currently, it is my last semester and I am doing an undergraduate research project on Solar and Atmospheric Radiation observations at 4 GHz, under the advisement of Dr. John Lewis and John Porter. After I graduate, I plan on attending graduate school for physics and engineering, focusing primarily on nanotechnology.
Questions, Comments, Suggestions?
Thomas H. Wolosz, Chairperson
Office: Hudson Hall 323
Phone: (518) 564-2116
Fax: (518) 564-3169
E-mail: thomas.wolosz@plattsburgh.edu
Physics Department
Hudson Hall 323
Plattsburgh, NY 12901